in relation to the registration, amalgamation and internal administration and regulation of registered organisations, including election processes, duties of officers and employees of those organisations, financial accountability and disclosure, democratic control and penalties for breaches.

to: abolish Australian Workplace Agreements; provide transitional arrangements through Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs); introduce a no-disadvantage test for ITEAs and collective agreements and ensure no agreement is approved until it passes the test; remove the requirement for a Workplace Relations Fact Sheet; provide that all parties agree to terminate collective workplace agreements; and enable award modernisation processes to be undertaken by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. Also makes consequential amendments to 16 Acts.

to empower the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to make an order that a certified agreement does not bind a new employer as a result of a transfer of a business, or only binds the new employer to a specified extent.

in relation to: creation of a national workplace relations system, including the establishment of the Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) which will set and adjust minimum and award classification wages, minimum conditions of employment; public holidays; outworkers; direct bargaining between employers and employees; the role of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, particularly in relation to regulation of industrial action; a simplified system of awards; redundancy pay by small business employers; transmission of business rules; protection of key award conditions in bargaining processes; dispute settlement procedures; extension of the compliance regime; transitional arrangements; provides for the renumbering of the Act; and Financial Management and Accountability Regulations 1997 in relation to the establishment of the AFPC.

Introduced with the Independent Contractors Bill 2006 to protect the status of independent contractors, the bill amends the:

Workplace Relations Act 1996

to: provide civil penalties for sham contracting arrangements; protect redundancy entitlements; provide for stand downs; make changes to the Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard; and

Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005

and

Workplace Relations Act 1996

to: repeal redundant provisions in relation to unfair contracts as a consequence of the proposed national services contract review scheme contained in the Independent Contractors Bill 2006; allow proceedings to be initiated in relation to sham contracting arrangements; and makes technical amendments to the